Billy Collins- Litany

The way he adds a sort of modern tone to the classical, formal poem makes the revised edition very funny. It's a sort of dry humor, but what adds to its level is the fact that it is a love poem in which Collins alters some lines to contrast the theme. The original lines are talking about comparing the lover to nice things such as the bread and knife, and then the new lines strongly contrast the theme of the original lines. It almost seems like the new lines are added to make it seem more conversational. The way he says parts like "there's no way you are the ____", or the less romantic additions such as "the pigeon on the statue's head" add a certain informality to it, which makes it funny since it originally is a classical poem